Luke 1:67-79 contains Zechariah’s song which he sang aloud after receiving the news of his new son, John, from an angel sent by God. The first half of this hymn is Zechariah’s thoughts on God’s will and the other half is “prophesied” by Zechariah on who his new will become in his future. The passage being a hymn has great significance, because it resonates with Zechariah’s mood at the moment. It informs us as readers that this is great news and Luke makes sure that the reader is well aware of that.
To put this into context, Luke uses the framework from other stories of the Old Testament. There is a parallel between the situations of both Elizabeth and Zechariah with Abraham and Sara. Both have wives who are barren and are already too advanced in their age to even have a child. Similar to Abraham, Zechariah’s prayers are answered and granted a child, but not just any child. An angel is sent by God to give the news to Zechariah that his son will be named John, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit before birth, he will affect the lives of many under God. The angel even claims that John “...will have the same spirit and power that Elijah had” (Luke 1:7). Then Zechariah is in disbelief and begins to question the angel’s words. Then Mary soon received the news about Jesus and after John was born, Zechariah was able speak
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Zechariah speaks as if only the people of Israel are being saved, but what happens to those who are not enemies or hate them? Many of the people believed that their Messiah would come to get rid of their whether it was overthrowing Rome or committing violent attacks on the empire. It seems that their enemies are one of their greatest problems. Zechariah does not ask God to destroy their, only save them from those who are their enemies and hate them. He is simply asking God for peace between those who are against
Step-Father of Jesus Christ, Joseph was a hard working carpenter that serves his people. Jesus was brought into his Step Father’s trade in Book of Mark questioning in astonishment “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:3) Jesus served his people but never followed his Step-Father’s footsteps and believed he was made for more than being a carpenter but to be a servant for the Lord. “Who thought he was in the form of God, did not count equality with a god to be grasped but taking form of a servant and being born in the likeness of man” (Philippians 2:6-7) Jesus followed passions that Willy never did in “Death of a
Luke was a Roman catholic before he converted over to Christianity. Luke was an eyewitness of the ministry, teaching, and life of Jesus. He made it his mission to teach the knowledge of Jesus and spread the religion Christianity. He wanted to reach the people in his communities and beyond. The Evangelist Luke wanted to tell the goods news that Jesus would return for his people. Luke’s concern was whether or not Christians could be good citizens of the Roman Empire, seeing that Jesus their founder had been killed for being a “political criminal”. Many people would have preceded them as revolutionaries (“From Jesus to Christ”). Christianity became a dominant way of life and worship in Europe many years after Luke wrote his gospel. In Medieval Europe, Luke’s gospel had greatly influenced the creators of many arts and dramas such as the Everyman play. Luke’s gospel opened many doors to help spread Christianity in Medieval Europe.
Scholars studying Hellenistic ethics focus on four main chairs of philosophy in Athens that were endowed in 176 CE by Roman Empire Marcus Aurelius: Plantonism, Aristotelianism, Epicureanism, and Stoicism. The expansion, admiration and assimilation of Greek culture and language, known as Hellenism, also contributed to the philosophy that continued in Ancient Rome. One school in particular, Stoicism, flourished in the Roman world (Sellars, 2). Understanding the foundations of Stoicism is an important topic in philosophy due to many misconceptions of what it means to embrace a Stoic lifestyle. These misconceptions stem from the lack of understanding that scholars have about early stoic writings. Almost none of the works by early stoics remain. Scholars mainly analyze quotes and summaries by the successors of the original founder.
This fragment is taken from THE NEW TESTAMENT (King James version). More importantly, the fragment appears in THE GOSPAL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, which is the first gospel out of four. While there is no speaking character in the fragment, it is possible to witness several characters in it. First, there are the wise men who came to visit and see baby Jesus. Second, when they entered the house, they saw Jesus with “Mary, his mother.” In this fragment, one can notice the significance of the wise men (Magi). Seeing that, the wise men function as evidence to display Jesus’s godliness and his relation to God, by seeing him they “fell down, and worshiped him.” Due to God’s intervention in the wise men’s dreams, they have changed their actions, understanding
I am a junior currently enrolled in the AP Language and Composition class. For our summer reading assignment, incoming juniors were required to read the famed novel, Zeitoun, written by Dave Eggers. Zeitoun is a non-fictional story about a Muslim-American named Abdulrahman Zeitoun who resides in New Orleans during the events of Hurricane Katrina. Throughout the story, the audience learns to sympathize, while also builds up an instantaneous affection towards Zeitoun. Although, initially I had sympathized for Zeitoun before, the profuse amount of controversy surrounding the truth makes me reconsider why I have ever evoked a strong sense of sympathy for this man. Others argue that Zeitoun should be continued to be read because of the main intention
The next day Faith, told Hope and Grace she would be able to go to see Jesus’s tomb. Faith and her grandmother, Grace, and Hope all went to see if there were really a such thing as Jesus’s tomb. When they arrived they were amazed and saw his tomb and how Jesus’s clothes were undisturbed. Then, they went to the village and spoke to the people who had seen Jesus resurrect from the grave and witness all the miraculous things. They even saw in the bible in the New Testament those who believed and were saved. Their response in order to be saved was to be baptized. Faith was overwhelmed by all the overwhelming evidence and things shown to her that she couldn't help but believe and neither could her grandmother. They both believed putting their faith in God and were baptized in the River Jordan where Jesus had been baptized at the age of 12. Faith knew when leaving Sodom and Gomorrah she had a bigger purpose in life. But, it was a matter of having faith in God to allow the holy spirit to guide her to find
Luke Timothy Johnson uses Prophetic Jesus, Prophetic Church in order to make a strong point that when studying both Luke and Acts as a unit, rather than reading the canonical order in the Bible, gives us one of our best prophetic looks at the Church for all ages. By presenting this point Johnson hopes to light a fire in our churches of today by using the prophetic works of Luke, so that we as Christians will attend to the ways that Christ intended the church to be. In Johnson’s introduction he states that it is not wrong to study Luke and Acts separately as there are many ways to study the scripture, nevertheless it is wrong to look at Luke and see the prophetic ways of Jesus, and then looking at Acts as non-prophetic. Through seeing Luke’s
Deuteronomy 20:16-18, “But of the cities of these people, which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them: The Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.”
This is when the story transitions to Antipas and Luke exchanging letters and begins the conversation about Jesus and the Christians. The first letter Luke sends to Antipas brings the attention to Jesus Christ and how Antipas should read the narrative of Luke. This is when the author lets us know how the gospel of Luke was introduced to Antipas and his experience with Jesus Christ. The majority of the book is the letters being send back and forth between Luke and Antipas; talking about the subject of Jesus Christ and the Christians. In one letter, Luke tells Antipas that the Christians believe this Jesus to be the, “Jewish messiah, or Christ, and the human incarnation of the most high God (p.37).” The author wants us to know What Jesus was known as to the Christians at this time and how important he was to the community. However, Antipas wrote back to Luke asking him if he felt uncomfortable with his association with the Christians. During this time, Christians were looked at as rebellions to the emperor of Rome and how they worshiped a different God. Luke replies by accusing their emperor of being more concerned about his own well-being than the welfare of
The book of Luke, found after the books Matthew and Mark, focuses on the ministry of Jesus Christ but it also gives us a look into His birth and growth in totality. In this chapter we see a historical account of some of the journeys that Christ experienced. It is important to keep in mind that the Bible and all of its books do serve as historical accounts but each book is unique in the fact that they incorporate a theological timeline. The Bible is, conceivably, the most important book that has ever been written. It gives the world eyewitness accounts to historical events that helped not only shaped a region of the world but the whole entire world. It is nearly impossible to go through some formal societal education and have never once read a part of the bible or have heard a story that adapts from the stories within the bible. The bible has helped formed institutions, associations and so much more. By reading the Gospel of Luke we are truly reading what is meant for us to read as Christians. The principal plot in the book of Luke is the life of Jesus Christ, his sacrifice, His ability to beat death and remain perfect as the son of GOD despite being human as well. Jesus is seen as the perfect savior for humans in the book of Luke. Luke not only gives multiple examples of the power of Jesus but also it gives us a look at The Lord’s triumph over temptation. Luke also depicts Jesus as a man/GOD who had a very deep concentration on people and relationships. The book of Luke gives Jesus a loving characteristic but doesn’t shy away from showing that at times Jesus got angry too. Jesus showed a great deal of compassion to the sick, those in pain, the poor, and unambiguously the sinful. Jesus had genuine love for everyone. Throughout this...
The book of Zephaniah contains messages of divine judgment against Judah and Jerusalem, as well as against other nations. It addresses a rare concentration of references to central issues in the history of ancient Israel. Idolatry, violence, and deception abound in Judah when Zephaniah began prophesying. Zephaniah's prophesying made it clear that Yahweh would execute vengeance upon unrepentant wrongdoers. His adverse judgments would be visited not only upon Judah and Jerusalem, but also upon other peoples: the Philistines, Ammonites, Moabites, Ethiopians, and Assyrians. Significantly, Zephaniah, the prophet, never stands at the center of the book of Zephaniah; the word of Yahweh is at the center of the book. Zephaniah is mentioned only insofar as he is necessary for the interpretation of the text.
In the years after 9/11, sentiment toward American Muslims has become hostile. In 2002, violence against Muslims in the United States went up an astonishing 1600 percent (Lean 3). Statistics give a good idea of the overall effect of 9/11 on Muslim violence, but narratives can provide a much more personal and compelling account. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers present a frightening (yet real) story of dramatic injustice against a Muslim Syrian American during Hurricane Katrina. Zeitoun, the main character, is profiled, embarrassed, and jailed unjustly. In the text, we see that islamophobia manifests itself in the form of violence and discrimination. Kathy, Zeitoun’s wife, even says in Zeitoun that “any trip to the grocery store or mall presented the
Luke stays very consistent with his treatment of the Holy Spirit as empowerment. That’s not to say that there are references to
It is about a son who abandons his family to “squander his wealth in wild living” (New International Version, Luke.15.13). After losing all his wealth he recognizes the importance of family and returns home. His father lovingly welcomes him because he will always love his son, regardless of the incident. God loves all His children; even the ones that abandon Him. All He asks of us is to repent from our sins and seek Him with all our hearts. This parable motivates believers to always repent because God is the most merciful and forgiving. Besides teaching about the good news, Jesus also performed miracles that caused many people to believe in his
Luke shares that as Jesus began his ministry, he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit (Lk 4:14). Although rejected by many, the Holy Spirit assisted Jesus in his teaching in the synagogues, healing of the sick, and deliverance of the possessed.